Background:
The history behind the current joint ownership of the Airport property is very long and complicated. It is staff's intent to avoid getting lost in the weeds of that history, but in case anyone is interested, multiple documents dating back to 1948 are attached. Please keep in mind that many of the attached documents were rendered moot by the 2001 agreement. The matter that is currently before Council for consideration is to sever the joint ownership of the property and clean up any other property ownership issues for the best interest of the community.
Beginning approximately in 2016 and at the direction of City Council, staff has held several meetings with County staff to discuss the untangling of the property. Discussions mainly focused on FAA requirements and how to unencumber some of the property where there is a clear City interest, approximately 30 acres out of the total 1,700 acres. The area of interest to the City is along Airport Road on the north side. Conversely, staff felt that the other sections of property were too far removed from municipal utilities and services to justify a municipal use and thus the City should be removed as joint owner.
Recently, approximately 3 acres was removed from this area for the purpose of the construction of the SLV Animal Center with City Council approval. More recent conversations with County staff have focused on unencumbering the remaining 27 acres to the west of the SLV Animal Center. The recommendation before Council is that the County would pay the fair market value for the 27 acres to unencumber the property from the FAA in 2022 with previously identified funds for the airport. Additionally, the 27 acres would be split with the City receiving the western portion (see attached map) that is contiguous to City-owned property. The agreement also sets out that if any portion of the 27 acres is sold to a third party, prior to any improvements being made, the proceeds will be split evenly between the City and County.
While previous Council direction was to negotiate for the full 30 acres, City staff does not feel that can be accomplished and that splitting the 27 acres is a reasonable compromise; especially with the County providing the funds to unencumber the property from the FAA. The County Commissioners approved the agreement at their December 8th meeting.